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A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 



OF 



WILLIAM FRANKLIN, 



GOVERNOR FROM 1763 TO 1776, 



WILLIAM A. WHITEHEAD. 

READ.BiEFORE THE NeW JeRSEY HISTORICAL SoCIETY, 
September 27«A, 1848. 



18 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



Gextlemex — Although I have consented to occupy a part of your 
time at this meeting, yet I feel that I should ask your indulgence for 
the imperfections which may be obseiTed in what I am about to read. 
For being only a portion of a manuscript of miscellaneous gleanings in 
the forgotten past,* prepared with no view of being laid before the 
Society, it is in some respects of a different character from what it 
would have been had it been designed for a distinct paper. It may 
however afford some information not generally known respecting the 
individual of whom it treats, and serve to refresh the memory of those 
already to some extent acquainted with his life and character. 



Dr. Franklin, identified with so much that is interesting in the history 
of America had one son. That son, William Franklin, was Gov- 
ernor of New Jersey at the period when, through the blessing of 
Providence upon earnest self devoting efforts, our country was happily 
enabled to throw off the oppressive burdens which the short sighted 
policy of England's rulers would have fastened upon her, and assumed 
* among the nations of the earth the separate and equal station to 
which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitled her.' 

William Franklin was born in the Province of Pennsylvania in 1T31 
— ^but of his 3^outh little is known. He early showed a marked predi- 
lection for books, which his father of course encouraged; but \\ith 
advancing years the quiet walks of an academic life appear to have lost 
their charm? in some measure, and a disposition was manifested by 
him to seek employment in the stirring pursuits of a military career. 
Disappointed in an attempt made to connect himself clandestinely 
with a privateer fitting out at Philadelphia, he was subsequently grati- 
fied by the receipt of a commission in the Pennsylvania forces, and 
served in one or more campaigns on the northern frontier before he was 
of age, rising from a subordinate station to the rank of Captain. This 



*" Contributions to the Local History of Perth Araboy, and surrounding countiy."'!J 



expedition is alluded to by his father as being, in one respect, of no 
service to him. " Will" — says the Doctor, writing in 1750 — " is now 
nineteen years of age, a tall proper youth, and much of a beau. He 
acquired a habit of idleness in the expedition, but begins of late to 
apply himself to business, and I hope will become an industrious man. 
He imagined his father had got enough for him, but I have assured him 
that I intend to spend what little I have myself, if it please God that I 
live lonf^ enough ; and as he by no means wants acuteness, he can see 
by my going on, that I mean to be as good as mj' word." 

On his return to Philadelphia young Franklin seems to have become 
in a great degree the companion and assistant of his father in his various 
scientific and professional pursuits, and subsequently entered himself 
into official life. From 1754 to 1756 he acted as Comptroller of the 
General Post Office, then under the management of Dr. Franklin, and 
in January 1755 — then holding in addition the Clerkship of the Pro- 
vincial Assembly — he accompanied the troops that were sent under 
the command of the Doctor to build forts on the frontiers of Pennsyl- 
vania ; and in June 1757, his father having been appointed Colonial 
Agent at London, he sailed with him for Europe. 

Wilham Strahan, his father's friend, a man of talents and discrimina- 
tion thus alludes to him in a letter written shortly after his arrival in 
England — 

" Your son" — ^he is writing to Mrs. Franklin-—" I really think one 
of the prettiest young gentlemen I ever knew from America. He 
seems to me to have a solidity of judgment, not very often to bo met 
with in one of his years. This, with the daily opportunity he has of 
improving himself in the company of his father, who is at the same 
time his friend, his brother, his intimate and easy companion, affords an 
agreeable prospect, that your husband's virtues and usefulness to his 
country may be prolonged be^^ond the date of his own life." 

Young Franklin entered upon the study of the law in the middle 
Temple and was called to the bar in 1758. He travelled with his 
father through England, Scotland, Flanders and Holland, and appears 
to have profited, as regards both mental and personal attainments, by 
the advantages which a visit to those countries under such favorable 
circumstances naturally afforded. Courted as was the society of his 
father by men of the highest literary and scientific acquirements, he 
could not but imbibe in such a circle a taste for similar pursuits, and 
we consequently find that when the University of Oxford in 17G2 con- 
ferred upon the father, for his great proficienc}' in the natural sciences, 
the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, the son was thought worthy 



of that of Master of Arts for having distinguished himself in the same 
branches of knowledge.* 

It was in this year (August 1762) he was appointed through the 
influence of Lord Cute, and without any solicitation on the part of his 
father,! Governor of New Jersey ; previously undergoing, it is said, a 
close examination by Lord Halifax, Minister of American Affairs ;| — 
deemed advisable perhaps on account of his colonial birth and youth, 
he at that time being only thirty years of age. 

There were some persons who regarded this promotion of Mr. Frank- 
lin as an event deeply to be deprecated, and intim-ations are met with 
to the effect that it was only through the secrecy observed by those 
concerned in obtaining the commission that remonstrance was not 
made and steps taken to counteract what was pronounced a dishonor 
and disgrace to the country.^ But I have failed to discover any 
deficiency in the abilities of Governor Franklin when compared with 
his predecessors, or any peculiarity in his political or private character 
that justifies the severity of these strictures. On the contrary the cir- 
cumstances, above narrated, under which the appointment was made, 
are highly creditable to him — evincing as they do a confidence in his 
capacity for the ofHce, and in his fidelity to the government, which was 
not wont to be reposed in those of colonial birth, unless some cogent 
reasons of policy prompted thereto, or strong claims to the preferment 
were presented; — and it is certain that the endeavors made to prejudice 
the people of New Jersey against their new Governor did not prevent 
his gathering around him as members of his Council gentlemen of the 
highest respectability and standing in the Province. It is not probable 
that such would have been the case had his talents and character been 
calculated only to entail misfortune on the people over whom he was 
placed. II 

About the time of his appointment Governor Franklin married Miss 
Elizabeth Downs — of whom recollections are, or were, cherished by 

* The New York Mercury of July 12th, 1762, thus announces this occurrence: — 
" Oxford, April 30th. Dr. Franklin, eminent for his many extraordinary improvements 
in electrical experimenls, was presented by this University to the honorary degree of 
Doctor in Civil Law, At the same time his son, who has also distinguished himself in 
the same branch of natural knowledge, was presented to the honorary degree of Master 
of Arts." — See Sparks^ Frankhn and Princeton Review, July 1847. 

t Life of Franklin by his Grandson. Vol. L p. 309. (Edit. 1833.) 

X Public Characters of Great Britain. Vol. IV. 

\S See a Letter of John Pena's in Duer's Life of Lord Sterling— pp. 70, 71. 

II Dr. Franklin in a letter to a friend dated Dec. 7th, 1762, says—" I thank you for 
your kind congratulations on my son's promotion and marriage. If he makes a good 



\ 



6 

aged persons who knew her, as of an exceedingly amiable woman 
possessing many virtues and of very engaging manners. With her 
he arrived in the Delaware River in February 1763, and, after some 
detention from the ice, reached Philadelphia on the 19th, whence he 
started for New Jersey on the 23d. He slept at New Brunswick on 
the 24th, and arrived at Perth Amboy the following day. 

He was escorted to the seat of government by numbers of the 
gentry, in sleighs, and by the Middlese.\ troop of horse ; and was there 
received by Governor Hardy and the members of his Council. The 
weather was intensely cold, but that prevented not the administi ation 
of the oath of office and the proclamation of his commission in pubHc, 
according to the usual forms ; — a contem.porary chronicler asserting 
that all was conducted " with as much decency and good decorum as 
the severity of the season could possibly admit of."* 

A day or two afterward the Governor proceeded to Burlington to 
publish his commission there, according to the custom of the 
province.-]- 

Philadelphia having been the place of his previous residence, it was 
natural the Governor should find stronger attractions in West than in 
East Jersey, from the contiguity of former friends in the Province of 
Pennsylvania ; he consequently, after some hesitation, secured lodgings 
at Burlington, and finally took up his permanent residence there until 
October 1774, M'hen he removed to Perth Amboy, and became the 
occupant of the Proprietors' House, of late years enlarged, and im- 
proved, the residence of Mr. Matthias Bruen. 

The Corporation of Burlington gave him a public entertainment 
before his removal to Amboy, and the following day presented their 
farewell address expressing their regard for him, thanking him for his 
kind deportment and courtesy shown during his stay, and regretting 



governor and husband (as I hope he will, for I know he has good principles and a good 
disposition) tliese even's will, both of thera, give me continual pleasure." — \SparJ<s* 
franldin, VII. p. 242] There can be but little doubt that the feeling manifested on 
the appointment of Governor Franklin was owing principally to tte illegitimacy of his 
birth. 

* New York Gazette. 

t The usual addresses were presented. Those particularly noticed were from the 
Corporations of New Brunswick and Perth Amboy — the President and Trustees of the 
College, and a deputation of Presbyterian Ministers. The Governor, of course, 'would 
omit no opportunity of promoting the general interests of religion or of countenancing 
those of the particular profession of the gentlemen' — or, at least, said so. The Cor- 
poration of Elizabethtown gave a public enterlamment to him and liis lady at the 
Point, in Jun«. — Sparks' Franklin, VII. 254. 



his departure. Neither the address nor the Governor's reply state why 
he left Burlington. v 

Almost immediately after his entrance upon his duties in New Jer- 
sey, the vexatious measures of the British ministry began to excite 
throughout the Colonies that abhorrence which eventually led to their 
separation from the mother country ; and Governor Franklin — 
although favorably disposed towards the Colonies so long as no 
direct opposition to the authority of Parliament was manifested — 
advocated and enforced the views of the ministry with a devotion and 
energy worthy a better cause. 

It is well known that Dr. Franklin, however strongly impressed he 
may have been with the incorrectness of the doctrines advanced by 
the British Parliament in relation to the Colonies, was far from advo- 
cating immediate independence. In his views he was not singular. 
There were few, if any, prior to 1775 who regarded such a remedy 
as necessary ; and Franklin presumed that the yearly increasing im- 
portance of America to the various mercantile and manufacturing 
interests of Great Britain would at last work out for her that relief 
which was so earnestly desired. But, when convinced that nothing 
was to be hoped for from the delay, he became an ardent and uncom- 
promising supporter of the Colonial cause. 

Under date of October 6th, 1773, he thus states his own position 
and that of his sons. Referring to some letters of his which Gov- 
ernor Hutchinson of Massachusetts had represented to be advsiatory 
of immediate independence, he says : " I shall be able at any time to 
justify every thing I. have written, the purport being uniformly this, 
that they should carefully avoid all tumults and every violent measure 
and content themselves with verbally keeping up their claim, and 
holding forth their rights whenever occasion requires. * * * * 
From a long and thorough consideration of the subject I am indeed 
of opinion that the Parliament has no right to make any law whatever 
binduig on the Colonies. That the King, and not the King, Lords 
and Commons collectively, is thek sovereign ; and that tho King, 
with their respective parliaments, is their only legislator. I know 
your sentiments [he was writing to the Governor] differ from mine on 
these subjects. You are a thorough government man, which I do not 
wonder at, nor do I aim at converting you, I only wish you to act 
uprightly and steadily, avoiding that depHcity which in Hutchinson, 
adds contempt to indignation. If you can promote the prosperity of 
your people, and leave them happier than you found them, whatever 
your political principles are, your memory will be honored/' 



Upon this letter the Doctor's grandson bases a refutation ol'the belief 
generally entertained that he endeavored to persuade the Governor to 
withdraw from the royal cause ;* but an aged gentleman, who knew 
the facts, assured me some years since, that, when confirmed in his 
own course, and after his return to America in 1775, the Doctor visited 
his son at Perth Amboy, and strove zealously to draw him over to the 
side of the colonies ; — that their conversations were sometimes attended 
with exhibitions of warmth not very favorable to continued harmonious 
intercourse, but each failed to convince the other of the impropriety of 
the course he was pursuing ; and it is not probable the Doctor would 
have expressed his displeasure subsequently in such decided terms had 
not the Governor slighted his council. His son certainly followed his 
advice in " avoiding duplicity," for he did not hesitate to give manifest 
tokens of his determination to rise or fall with the royal cause. 

One cannot help contrasting this visit of Doctor Franklin to Amboy 
and its attending circumstances with the one he had made half a century 
before. Then, a poor and unknown lad, seeking a place where he might 
earn his daily bread by laborious exertion, he had passed within the 
limits of the ancient city a night of feverishness and unrest, after a day 
of abstinence and exposure ; and left it to prosecute on foot his journey 
of fifty miles to Burlington— drenched in rain and subjected to injurious 
suspicions.! Now, the man of science and the statesman, whose fame 
had extended to both hemispheres, came from a sojourn in foreign lands 
and from intercourse with the wise and great of the earth, to confer with 
his son — -become a representative of royalty — in the very place from 
which he had made so miserable an exit. 

Although the conspicuous part performed in the revolutionary drama 
by Governor Franklin constitutes the most important feature of his 
administration, yet he was too long in the executive chair not to contract 
a greater attachment to the Province than his flitting predecessors had 
done, and to become acquainted with the wants and aware of the evils 
under which its population labored. He appears in consequence to 
have exerted himself in a laudable manner to promote its prosperity. — 
At different times he brought to the notice of the Assembly, and 
encouraged legislation relating to, the improvement of roads, the foster- 
ing of agriculture by the bestowment of bounties, the melioration of the 
laws prescribing imprisonment for debt ; and, it is thought, proved 
himself an active and efficient Governor, although in other respects 



* Life of Franklin, Vol. I. p. 310. 
t Franklin's Writings. Vol. I. 231. 



9 

than in approving the course of the British Ministry he failed to secure 
the approbation of the people; yet his known adherence to piinciples 
which were deemed inimical to popular rights was probably the foun* 
dation of most, if not all, the opposition shown to him. 

It would however trencli too much upon the province of history to 
narrate here the ciicumstances which called forth this opposition ; it 
will suffice to remark, as illustrative of the character of the man apart 
from liii public station — the pii:icipal aim oftliis sketch- — that at these 
pe! iods Governor P'l'ankHn while he evi;)ced a determination to persevere 
in the course dictated by his sense of duty, does not seem to have acted 
in a way to attach iiny discredit to himself, other than that which 
accrues to the polilici.m from acting contrary to the views of hii oppo- 
nents. At ti.nes>, iidvjed, he sac.iiiced hii own official pojjulaiity to the 
claims of personal fiiendship, and when assured of tlie correctness of 
his 0})i. lions, allowed no apprehensions of personal safety or of prejudice 
to his interests to interfere with their adaptation iii practice to the pro- 
motion of the public welfare as understood by him. 

Duiing the entire period from the passage of the Stamp Act in 1765, 
until the receipt of Lord Nort'i's Dechiratoiy project, the Governor, 
so far as hii communicaiions have come unde;' my notice, observed a 
commendable prudence i.i his intercourse with the representatives 
of the peojde and with the people themselves; saying nothing which, 
conside.ing his relations to the Crown, they couLI not excuse or 
extenuate; and we find consequently that a due degree of respect 
continued to be shown to him and his authoiity. Even at as late a 
period as February 1775, the representatives of the people were warm 
in their expression of attachment to the government of Great Biitain. 
" We do solemnly, and with great truth assure your Majesty, that we 
have no thoughts injuii ous to the allegiance which, as subjects, we owe 
to you as our sovereign ; that we abhor the idea of settiiig ourselves 
up in a state of independence', and that we know of no such design in 
others." — And again in November of that year the Assembly passed 
resolutions adverse to independence and directing the delegates of the 
Province in the Continental Congress to oppose any propo.^ition of the 
kind. But they were called to act upon the measure proposed by Lord 
North, at a time when they had too recently seen the blood of friends 
and countrymen shed at Lexington, for them to regard it with the for- 
bearance they had previously exhibited, and from this point the inter- 
course with the Governor became less cordial. 
19 



10 

It was at thi^ period that dissension also for the first time appears to 
have entered the Council. Previously, so f.ir as the sentiments of the 
members of that boJy have become public, they had, i i the main, 
coincided with the Governor i i iiii views. But in JSej-'tember of this 
year he felt called upon to suspeiid Lord Sli Hog, who was one of the 
members, io consequence of his accej)tance of a ujilitary commistioii 
under the Proviiciil Congi-ess, and shortly after, the communications 
whijh passed between the Council and the Governor began to evince in 
no small degree the g.'owiog cst.angement wiiich soon put an end to all 
harmonious action a:id left the Governor, unsupported, to stem the 
adverse tide of popular prejudice. Wiiting about this peiiod to t!ie Eail 
of Daitmouth the Governor feelingly remarks, " My iiitjation is indeed 
somewhat particular and not a little diiiicult, having no more than one 
or two among the p; incipal officers of gi vernment, to whom I, even now, 
speak confidenlinlly on puhli^ afTairs." * 

The despatch containing this passage was intercepted on the 6th 
of Janua v, 1776, by Lord iSti. ling, and LmI to the adoption of measures 
by that oiiicer to j)!event the escape of Governor Franklin, although 
there i. 5 no e\idence that he had Ibrmed any such intention. He had 
declared to the Assembly that, unless compelled by vi nlence, he shouL! 
not leave the Province, and he stated in a letter addressed to the olficer 
havin<»' command of the guard placed at Lis gate that ' such an assur- 
ance on his part was ceit.ii dy equal to any promise he could make/ 
At the solicitntio i of the Chief Justice of the P. ovince, however he was 
ordered to gi.'e his paiole; and for some months continued, amid all 
the excitjnunt and incren^iig di.fijnlties of tie ti n % to occupy his 
house ij Amboy, and to exercise nominally the duties of his station.f 
But having issued a proclnmation convening the Assembly on the 20tli 
of June — having received despatches from the Miidstry which he was 
anxious to lay before them — the Piovinci d Convention or Congress on 
the 14th of June pronounced the proceedings a direct contempt of the 
order of the Conli lental Congress which abrogated all foreign ju:isdic- 
tion, and, in a series of resolutions which they adopted, expressed an 
opinion that the proclamation ought not to be obeyed, and that there- 
after no payments should be made to Gov. F. on account of salary; 
and three days thereafter he was arrested at Amboy by a detachment of 
milida under Colonel (afterward General) Heard, of Woodbiidge, 



* I'riiifftori R.K'vit'w, .lii'y 1347. 

t Uuer's Life of I ori Snrl.n^', pp. 119, 121. Force's Doc. Ilisl. U. S.— Vol. IV. 
Frinceion Review, July 1817. 



11 

accompanied by Major Deare of Amboy, whose authority for so doing 

was as Ibllows : 

"To Colonel \atiiamel Hi atid — 

The Piovinciai Congress of New Jersey reposing great confidence 
in yonr zeal and prudence, have thought fit to entrust to your care tho 
execution of the enclosed Resolves. It is the desire of Congress that 
this necessary busi;iess be conducted Mith all the delicacy and ten- 
derness which the nature of the service can possibly admit of. 

For this end, you will find among the papers the form of a written 
parole, in which the:e is left a bla.nk space lor you to fill uj), at the 
house of iMr. Fraidtlin, with the name of Piinceton, F^oidentown or his 
own farm at Rancoeus. When he shall have signed the parole, the 
Congress will rely upon his honor for the faithful performance of his 
engagements ; but should he refuse to sign it, you are desired to put 
him under strong guard, and keep him in close cnslody until farther 
orders. Whatever expense mjty be necessary will be clieerfully de- 
fiaj'ed by the Congress, We refer to yonr discretion what means to 
use for that purpose, and you liave fi;ll power and authoiity to take to 
your aid whatever force you may requi.e." 
" By order of Congress, 
V SAMTEL TLXKER, President. 

"In Provincial Congress, New Jersey, Builington, June 15th, 177G." 

Governor Franklin indiirnantlv refused to siirn the parole, and ho 
was therefoie | laced under guard. A report of their proceedings 
being made by the Provincial Convention to the Continental Congress, 
that hody on the ICth June |;assed the following resolution — 

" A letter from the Convention of New Jersey of the 18th, enclo- 
sing sundry papers, together with thcii* proceedings in apprfh.ending 
William i'raidJin, Esq., Governor of that Colony, was h-.id before 
Congress. Wliereupon Resolved that it be reconnnended to the Con- 
vention of New^ Jersey to proceed on the examination of Mr. Franklin, 
and if, upon such examination, they siiall be of o| i.ion that he should 
be confined, to repoit such 0].i:,ion to Congress, and then the Congress 
will direct the [lace of his confinen^.ent : they concuning in sentiment 
with the Convention of New Jersey that it would be improper to con- 
fine liini in that Colony." 

A guard of sixty men had ren^iined around the Governors residence 
until communic.-iti on could be had with the Convention. That body 
ordered liini to be taken to Builington, where, on the rec(.i|:t of tlie 
above resolution, he was examined touching such points of his con- 



12 

duct as were deemed prejudicial to the interests of Americn. His 
royalty, firmness .iiid self-possession reinjiined unshaken under the 
ordeal. Conceiving that tlie Convention had usurped the authority it 
exercised, he denied the light of that body to interrogate h'un, and 
refused to answer any questions propounded. He was therefore de- 
clared an enemy to the country, and Lieut. Col. Bowes Reed was 
directed to keep him safely guarded until the pleasure of the Conti. 
nental Congress should be known. 

As has been stated, the arrest of Governor Franklin was based 
upon an alleged infraction or implied contempt of the resoliition of 
the Continental Congress adoj;ted 15th iMay preceding ; but it is 
probable the proclamation refeired to was only adopted as an avail' 
hie excuse for doing what had doubtless been lor some lime deter- 
mined on. 

It has been advanced as a reason for tlie interference at that precise 
time, that the object of the Governor was to create confunon in the 
administration of the public affaiiS by aria\ing the AssendJy against 
the Convention. But it must be i-emembered that for more than a 
year, during which these two bodies had existed, there had been no 
conflicting action between (hem. Moie than one tl.iid of the num- 
bers of the Convention in 1775 were also memljers of the Assembl^^ 
and there were many others of the latter body equally as well aflected 
to the colonial cause ; and although iij the Convention of 1770, the 
number of the members of the Assembly in the Convention was re- 
duced to seven, yet the .political character of the Assembly remained 
unchanged, and I have failed to discover any documents that indicate 
a probability that the (Governor could have moulJed thr.t body to any 
sinister views he may have entert.'iined. 

The Governor, however, in a long communication addressed to the 
Council and Assembly, which was wiitten on the day of l.is arrest, 
reviews the plea of his opponents iu the following warm and emphatic 
language. — 

# * # * " ^p|)g fr^gt ^Hedged is false, and must appear gla:ingly so 
to every man who has re;.d the r<?solve alluded to, and is ca|;able of 
understanding it. The Continental Congress, alter a preamble de- 
claiing tlitir o|inion "that the exercise of every kind of auth.ority 
under the Crown shoidd be totally suppressed,'" do then ivsolve that it 
be recommended to the lespective Assemblies and Conventions of the 
united Colonies uhere no goiiernmcn's srjf.cicnl io ihe ciigencii^s of 
their ajjairs have been hiLherio established, to adopt such goverijiueot 



13 

as sliall, in the opinion of the rerrcscnla'ivcs of the people best con* 
duce to the happiness and safety of their constituents in paiticular, 
and Anieiica in gonp?'a!." iiovv any p^ersons can const;'ue and rep- 
resent my caiiing a meeting of the AssembJi) at the very time when 
such an important niatter was recommended by the Continental Con- 
gress to the consiJeralion of ihe Refresenta'kes of the people, to be 
a *' direct contemj t and violation " of the above Resolve, is difficult 
to conceive, snppoiiing them possessed of common sense and common 
honesty. The iVssenihly of IV'nnsylvania iiave met since that resolve, 
and I believe are still slitting, under an anthoiity derived from the 
Crown. They, iio doubt, have had the resolve under their consiilera- 
tion, nor can any good reason be given why the Assembly of New 
Jersey should not likewise be permitted the oppo: tui;ity of gi">ii:g their 
sentiments (if they should think it necessary or expe('ient) on a matter 
of such infinite importance to them and their constituents, if when 
you met, you had thought it proj)er to adopt or comply with the 
resolve, either in ^hole or in jait, it is well known that 1 could not 
have prevented it, whatever niy inclin.-ition ndght have been. In otlier 
colonies wlsere a change of government has been made, one of the 
reasons asHgned in excuse for such measure has been, that the Gov- 
ernor has cither abdicated Lis government, appeared in arms ag.-.inst 
the peoj le, or rrglectcd to call a nxcti!:g of their reprcsentalives. 
But I do not recollect an instance wliere neither o^ the'so cii-cumstar.ces 
existed, and gove;r:ment could l)e cariied on i;) the usual way, in such 
cssentiid points as ineelirigs of tlie Legi latme, paFFii:g of Laws and 
holding Cou:tsof .uu-t ice, that any mate.i.d alteiation has \.Q:n n a.'e 
in such government l)y a convention ; nor tiiat any convention has 
before presumed to attenij t a business of that impo;tance where an 
assend;ly exi t?d and were not hindered from meeting. Mo£t probal ly 
had I not cr.lled the Asujj.lly I d;ouId have been much blamed l>y 
those ve:y nu n for tl:e cndtMon (cf j ceirlly as matteis of such conse- 
quence wore i.i agititi>n) auvl accused of not exercising the preroga- 
tive vested in me for the good of the peo| le, as I ought tu have done. 
But however that mav he, sure I am, that it is the e\ii!ent meat inir of 
the resolve of the Coi:(iner.t;.l Coi^gjcfs that wlien asscmi lies can 
meet they are to consider the piopi it ty of the measure iccommended, 
and not Conventions. 

* * * * * ik- * 

In a pottsci ipt, added after Lis an ival at Turlington, June 22d, 1778, 
he fortifies Lis fo: i;ion w ith juither lefercnccs to the course of the 
Delaware Assembly and iMaryland Convention. He says : 



14 

" Since writing the above, I have seen a Pennsylvania newspaper 
of June 19th, in which it appears that Mr. McKean laid before the 
Asseaihly of the three lower counties a certified copy of the resolu- 
tion of Congress of the 15th May last, which being taken in conside- 
ration by that house on the 15th instant, the}' resolved, among other 
things, tl-nt " lite representatives of the people in this Assembly met, 
A:LoxE can and ought at this time to establish such temporary 
authorit}' — meaning the authority they had before determined to be 
expedient in the present exigency of affairs — ''ujiiil a new government 
can be formed." This Assembly met, as well as that of Pennsylvania, 
under an authority derived from the Crown, and so far from consider- 
ing such a meeting as a contempt or violation of the resolve of the 
Continental Congress, thej' resolved they were the only proper persons 
to take that resolve into consideration, and to establish such authority 
as was deemed adequate to the occasion. The Assembly of New 
Jersey might certainly with equal propiiety have done the same, had 
they been allowed to meet. 

" It likewise appears by the newspapers that the Governor of Mary- 
land on the 12th instant, had "issued a proclamation for dissolving the 
General Assembly of that Province, and to order writs of election to 
be issued to call a new Assembly returnable the 25th day of July next." 
But there is not the least surmise that the Provincial Convention of 
that Province have taken any offence at such proclamation, or so 
much as pretended to think the Governor had thereby acted in direct 
contempt and violation of the resolve of the Continental Congress, 
and was therefore such an enemy to the liberties of this country as 
that he ought to be tried and imprisoned. Yet the Maryland Conven- 
tion have shewn as much spirit and regard for the liberties of America 
as any body of men on the continent. But they, it seems, are for 
peace, reconciliation and union with Great Britain on constitutional 
terms, and have too much sense and virtue to declare a Governor an 
enemy to the liberties of this country merely because he is an enemy 
to the liberties which such designing men are disposed to take ^\ith 
the old constitutional government." 

The Governor commented also at considerable length upon what 
he was pleased to term the evils of "independent republican tyranny" 
which he considered impending over the province, as well as upon the 
injustice with which he had personally been treated. For whatever 
of an offensive character this communication may contain, due allow- 
ance can now be made. To one of his impetuous disposition and 



15 

high ideas of prerogative, it must have been exceedingly galling to be 
flaced thus at the mercy of a self-constituted tribunal disposed to 
exercise the authority it had assumed ^vithout regard to any other 
power or jurisdiction whatever. May we not syinpathize with the 
man, and regret the necessity which called for the ligor manifested 
towards him, without weakening our abhorrence of the principles 
which as an officer of the crown he felt bound to support! He had 
discrimination enough to perceive that the "independency" which the 
peoples' representatives had not hesitated so recently to deny to be 
the end and aim of their struggle with the mother country, was, in 
fact, the point to which they were fast tending ; had it been less ap- 
parent to his mind his course would probabh' have been more in conso- 
nance with the popular will, for so far as his opinions are known upon 
the matters of difference between the colonies and the parliament, they 
appear to have been such as to exonerate him — as he asserts in the 
communication just noticed — from any imputation of cheiishing a dis- 
position inimical to the interests of America; entertaining the convic- 
tion that by negotiation all the desired relief and redress could be 
secured. Doubtless the rapid development of the independent move- 
ment hastened his seizure.* 

The following extracts from the proceedings of the Continental 
Congress, mark the course of that body towards the Governor: 

" Monday, June 24th, 1776 — A letter of the 2Jst from the Con- 
vention of New Jersey was laid before Congress and read, together 
with sundry papers enclosed therein, containing the questions proposed 
to William Franklin. Esq., — an account of his behavior on the occa- 



* On the 22<I .Iiinp the Hovprnnr a(lilrp«spd a sfemrifl letter to the Council antl As- 
Femhly narrating llie treainrif nt rer ei\e(I from Lis f-srort on his way to Burlington, and 
the (ir<'iim*ianoes roniiefii»f| with his examiriation Fr"m his ac-octiuit of the rran-ar- 
tiotia it vvi.nlil sppin that nnneres-aiy Ftririnefs whs ohserved in exrlmJinia: liiin fr<>m 
ih** sofiely of frieiidn. and in the Fpstrainis |.Iacp<J iipofi his per-onal tn'veraents He 
ronfhi'les ihp Ipifer thus—" Why they ronld not. if th^-y wpre deiprminpd to usurp the 
powers of government, suffer m** lo remnin quietly at ray (iwn hotne. as they do miier 
Cr<iv\n ofTicprs iti the provinre, I have not heard Th^y wpIi ktiow I havp not phlipr 
levied or aMpmpted to Ipvv any troops against them, that I could not, had I bpen so 
inclint-d, have givpn any hindrance to ihetr meaHirps, and that I might ha\e been of 
service l'> th*' cotintry in case, of a negotimio'i tak ng \>\m-e. I can Hccount for this con- 
duct no o'herv\ise than that ihey mean to shew, hy tearing one in ray station (r -m his 
wife and Inmily. how all-suflicient their present power is, and thfrehy to imimid^ile 
every man in thp province from giving any opposition to their ini(iuifous crnrse. But 
be the event what it may, I have, thank God, sprit enough to face the dangpr. Pro 
Rege and Pntna was the motto 1 assumed when 1 first commenced my political hit, 
and I am resolved to retain it till death ihall put an end to ray mortal existence." 



13 

sion, and the resolution of the Convention, ''declaring him a virulent 
enemy to this coimtry, and a person that may prove dangerous, and 
that the said William Franklin be confined in such place and manner 
as the Continental Congress shall direct." V/hereupon 

Resolved, That William Franklin be sent under guard to Governor 
Trumhall, who is desired to admit him to his jxiroie ; but, if Mr. 
Franklin rei'use to give his parole, that Governoi" Trambuil bo desired 
to treat him agreeably to the resolutions of Congress respecting pri- 
soners." 

(jovernor Trumbull accepting the charge, lie was t?;ken to Con- 
Recticut forthwith, and quartered in the house of Capt. Ebenczer 
Grant at East Windsor; his lady being left in the city of New York. 

On the 2-3d November Congress " Resolved that (general Washing- 
ton be directed to piopose to General [lowe an exchange of Wm. 
Franklin, Esq., late Governor of New Jersey for Biig. Gen. Thomp- 
son ;" l)ut on the 3d December, he was requested to suspend the 
execution of the order, should the negotiation with General Howe 
not have been comniLMiced; and no tarther mention of Governor 
Franklin is made until Tuesday, Apiil 2'2d, 17/7 ; it was then 

"Rejoiced, That Governor Trumbull be in!brme(i that Congi-ess has 
received undoul)ted infoimation that V\'il!iam Fraiikli i, late Goveinor 
of the State of New Jersey, and now a piiioner in Connectijut, has 
since his removal to that State sedulously employed himself in disper- 
sing^ among the inhabitants the protections of Lord Kowe and Gcr.eral 
Howe, sliled the King's Commissioners ibr granting pardons, and 
otherwise aided and abetted the enen/us of the United States ; and 
that he be requested forthwith to order the said William Franklin, 
Esq., into close confinement, prolnhiting to him the use of pen, ink, 
and paper, or the access of any person or persons but such as are 
propel ly licensed for that purpose by Governor Trumbull." 

Lord Howe had specially invoked the aid of all the governors who 
had been expelled from their provinces, in spreading his " protections" 
among the peojjle ; and the foregoing resolution is indica/.ive of the 
zeal with wdiich Governor Franklin had obeyed the behest. It is 
probable that he remembered, among others, his neighbors at Amboy, 
one of the first of these documents that fell into the hands of General 
Washington having been directed to the inhabitants of that place.* 



* Boita I,p 36. 



11 

On the 22d July following the order of Congress for his close con- 
finement, Governor Franklin applied to General Washington for a 
release on parole. His letter the General forwarded to Congress, 
accompanied by one from himself, which seems to convey a desire on 
his part that the request might be granted on account of the low state 
of Mrs. Franklin's health, which had sunk under the anxieties and 
sufferings which the state of the country and separation from her 
husband had entailed upon her. Congress however refused to grant 
the favor solicited ; assigning as a reason that the intercepted letters 
of Governor Franklin had been such as to make it evident it would 
be inconsistent with the safety of the States to allow him any liberty 
whatever that would afford him opportunities for conlerring with the 
enemy.* 

Husband and wife consequently met no more in life. Mrs. Frank- 
lin died on the 28th of July, 1778, and the next evening, attended by 
a number of the most respectable inhabitants of the city, her remains 
were deposited within the chancel of St. Paul's Church. Her obit- 
uary notice in the Mercury of August 4th, proclaims her " a loving 
wife, an indulgent mistress, a steady friend, and affable to all" — char- 
acteristics which, from all that has come down to us, would seem by 
no means to embrace all of her estimable qualities. Ten years sub- 
sequently the Governor caused a tablet to be erected to her memory, 
which still occupies a place in the wall of the church, bearing the 
following inscription beneath the Franklin arms : 

" Beneath the altar of this Church are deposited the remains of 

Mrs. Elizabeth Franklix, wife of His Excellency, 

William Fraxklix, Esq., late Governor under 

His Britannic Majesty, of the Province of New Jersey. 

Compelled by the adverse circumstances of the times to part 

from the husband she loved, and at length 

deprived of the soothing hope of his speedy return, she sank under 

accumulated distresses, and departed this life on the 

28th day of July, 1778, in the 49th 3'ear of her age. 

Sincerity and Sexsibility, 

Politeness and Affability, 

Goulixess and Charity, 

were 

with Sense refined and Person elegant, in her united. 



* WashlnjjtoM's Writings, vol. V.,pp.'67. 
20 



18 

From a grateful remembrance of her affectionate tenderness and 
constant performance of all the duties of a Good Wife, 

This monument is erected, in the year 1789, 
By him who knew her worth, and still laments her loss." 

The firmness, energy, and indomitable perseverance with which 
Governor Franklin, under all circumstances, held fast to his royalty, 
were calculated to make his imprisonment longer than would other- 
wise have been the case, and we find Congress on the 20th August, 
1778, by a deliberate vote, determining that it was inconsistent with 
the interests of the United States to consent to his exchange,* This 
was in consequence of an application from J. McKinley, Esq., late 
President of Delaware, to be exchanged for him, presented to Con- 
gress ten days previous. Mr. McKinley renewed his application on 
the 14th September, and after several amendments had been offered 
and rejected — one of them being a proposition to substitute Brig. 
Gen. Thompson for Mr. iMcKinley — the exchange was agreed to, and 
Governor Frankin returned to New York November 1st., 1778, 
having been a prisoner two years and four months. 

Governor Franklin remained in New York for nearly four years, 
the companion uf Rivington and other noted adherents of the royal 
cause, and was at one time — how long is not knov/n — the President 
of the Associate Board of Royalists ; in that capacity authorizing or 
sanctioning, it is said, much cruelty and oppression towards the 
Americans who were prisoners, but no specific acts have come to my 
knowledge, affording gi-ounds either for doubting or believing the 
charge. This Board, it is thought, originated principally with another 
Jerseyman, Daniel Coxe, who was one of Gov. Franklin's Council. 
It consisted of deputies selected from the refugees of the different 
colonies, and was first organized in 1779. Its objects were the exam- 
ination of captured Americans, or suspected persons, and the planning 
of measures for procuring intelligence, or otherwise aiding the royal 
cause. Coxe was the first President, and was appointed to the chair, 
— so one of his fellow refugees has stated — " to deprive him of the 



* The qi>estion was on granting consent to the exchange, and, as was usual, wa» 
taken by the Stales, and lo>t by a tie vote, as follows : 

Ayes. N. H. ; K. 1. ; Conn. ; N. Y., Md. ; Va. ; . . . , 6 

Noes. IS.C. ; S. C 2 

Divided. Mass.; N. J.; Penn. ; Geo. . . . .4 

— e 

The votes of the individual members were ayes 19 ; noes 10. 



19 

opportunity of speaking, as he had the gift of saying little with many 
words."* 

Governor Franklin finally sailed for England in August, 1782. 
In consideration of the losses he had been subjected to, £1800 
were granted him by the English Government, and he was allowed in 
addition a pension of £800 per annum.; placing him, so far as his 
annual income was affected, in a better condition probably than he 
would have enjoyed had he remained in his government, although a 
cotemporary writer states that both indemnity and pension were con- 
sidered inadequate to remunerate him for all he had sacrificed.f 
After leaving America he married again ; the lady being a native of 
Ireland. He died November 17, 1813, aged 82. 

Benjamin West, in his picture representing the " Reception of the 
American Loyalists by Great Britain, in the year 1783," introduces 
him as one of the prominent personages at the head of the group of 
figures; and in the description of the picture he is mentioned as 
having " preserved his fidelity and loyalty to his sovereign from the 
commencement to the conclusion of the contest, notwithstanding 
powerful incitements to the contrary."| 

During the whole of the revolutionary struggle, there was no in- 
tercourse between Br. Franklin and his son ; and the mutual estrange- 
ment contiimed, in a great degree, even after the cause was removed 
by the restoration of peace and the acknowledgement of the inde- 
pendence of America. The first advances towards a reconciliation 
appear to have been made by the Governor, in a letter dated July 22d, 
1784; which the Doctor answered from Passy on 16th August fol- 
lowing. In his letter he says : " Nothing has ever hurt me so much, 
and affected me with such keen sensations, as to find myself deserted 
in my old age by my onW son, and not only deserted, but to find him 
taking up arms against me in a cause wherein my good fame, fortune, 
and life were all at stake." He intimates to him that neutrality at 
least should have been observed on his part, but, as he desired it, is 
willing to forget the past as much as possible. 

The treatment of his son, however, ever continued to afflict him. 
In a letter written on January 1st, 1788, to the Rev. Dr. Byles, of 
Boston, he thus feelingly alludes to it, after adverting to the comfort 



* Sabine's Loyalists, 232. 

t Public characters of Great Britain. Cotntnisaion on Claims of Amer. Loyalista. 

t Sabine's LoyaHsts. 



20 

derived from the presence of his daughter : " My son is estranged 
from me by the part he took in the late war, and keeps aloof, residing 
in England, whose cause he espoused, whereby the old proverb is ex- 
emplified : 

• My son ia nay son till he ge's him a wife, 
But my daughter is my daughter all the daya of her life-' " 

In his will he left the Governor his Nova Scotia lands with such 
books and papers as were in his possession, and released him from 
the payment of all debts that his executors might find to be due from 
him. The devise to him concluding with : " The part he acted 
against me in the late war, which is of public notoriety, will account 
for my leaving him no more of an estate he endeavored to deprive 
me of"* 

'J'his estrangement of Doctor Franklin from his son is an instance 
of the inevitable separation of families and friends which is one 
among the many evils ever attendant on a civil war. Various as are 
the characters, dispositions, tastes and habits of mankind, it can 
never be reasonably anticipated that in those conflicts of opinion 
which precede the disruption of empires or communities, the ties of 
consanguinity or association are to prove sufficient for every emer- 
gency and withstand the corroding influen-ee of selfishness, prejudice 
or error. 

In the war to which we owe our independence as a nation this evil 
in every degree of magnitude was painfully manifested ; and probably 
not one of the colonies, in proportion to its population and extent, 
suffered more from it than New Jersey. Having less of foreign com- 
jnerce and of inland trafHc than m:any of her sister colonies in which 
to employ the industry and enterprise of li«r 3'outh, numbers of the 
higher classes were accustomed to look for pi-eferment in the admin- 
istration of the Provincial Government, or to seek for honor and profit 
in the naval and military service of the mother country ; and many 
were sent to England by anxious parents to secure those advantages 
of education which were not afforded by the literary institutions of 
America. These circumstances necessarily involved a,ssoc5ations 
w4iich led in many instances to marriages into families abroad, or into 
such as were temporarily located in the province, while the introduc- 
tion of the ro^^al regiments, which took place some years before the 
Revolution, caused similar unions between their officers and the 
daughters of New Jersey. 



* Franklin's Writings, T. pp. :?03,; X, pp. 1«1, 3.%. 



21 

Independent, therefore, of all pecuniary or other interested reasons 
for hesitation, both young and old among the inhabitants of the Pro- 
vince became thus, in various wa3'S, involved in the important and sol- 
emn enquiry how to reconcile their love of country or allegiance to their 
king with considerations of personal or domestic happiness. Happy 
were they whose situation admitted of a decision which did not jeop- 
ardize either : but this in a large number of instances was impossible. 
Mothers were doomed to see their children at open variance upon 
whose heads their blessings had with equal fondness descended. 
Fathers found themselves arrayed in opposition to their sons, and that 
too, in a contest in which the lives of one and all were at stake. Wives 
beheld in agony their husbands armed with weapons that were to be 
used against their friends and countrymen, or perchance against their 
own brethren ; and friends, between whom no personal dissension had 
ever existed, ranged themselves under different banners to seal \Nith 
their blood their adherence to political principles which w^ere made to 
engulph every tender emotion of their hearts. 

These are no random assertions. Family histories would bring to 
light many cases of this painful characteristic of our revolutionary 
struggle, and the ca«e of Governor Franklin is but one of many that 
are siinihir, 

CIovernoQ FrnnkKn's love of books in early life, at a later period, 
naturally led him to collect them, and before the revolution he had 
amassed a large library, which, on his leaving Amboy, was packed in 
cases aisd deposited by Mrs. Franklin within the British lines. The 
warelK»u-,?e m which they were placed happened to contain a quantity 
of military stores that were subsequently burned, and the books 
shared the same fate.* His writings that are met with, although they 
exhibit no particular superiority of mind or elegance of composition — 
and are, perhaps, less remarkable than we might expect from the ad- 
vantages of education and association he had enjoyed — yet give 
evidence of literary attainments which compare favorably with those 
of most of the prominent men of that day in the colonies. He was 
of a cheerful, facetious disposition ; could narrate well entertaining 
stories to jylease his fiiends ; was engaging in his manners, and pos- 
sessed good conversational powers. He lived in the recollection of 
those vvho saw him in New Jersey, as a man of strong passions, fond 
of convivial pleasures, well versed in the ways of the world, and, at 
one period of his life not a stranger to the gallantries which so fre- 



* Public Characters, IV. 



22 

qiiently man-ed the character of the men of that age. He was above 
the common size, remarkably handsome, strong and athletic, though 
subject to gout toward the close of his life. 

He had only one child, William Temple Franklin, who resided in 
France, became the biographer of his grandfather, and died at Paris, 
May 25th, 1823. 

Such, imperfectly sketched, was the career of the last of our colo- 
nial governors. More of interest might have been imparted to the 
narrative, had it been prepared with reference to its being read before 
the Society ; but the materials for a full and satisfactory biography 
of William Franklin are yet wanting. It is much to be regretted that 
his papers, which were carried to France by his son, cannot be re- 
gained. 

It is remarkable how imperfectly^ known are all those who, during 
the provincial existence of New Jersey, wielded the chief executive 
authority. Of a few, from their ruling over New York and other 
colonies, some information may be gleaned, but of them as Governors 
of New Jersey we have very little that can be relied upon respecting 
their characters, habits, attainments or adventures. Doubts rest even 
upon the identity of some of them, and Governor Franklin himself 
is frequently confounded with his son William Temple Franklin. 
With the brevity almost of the Scripture annunciation — " So Tibni 
died and Omri reigned," our histoiians Smith and Gordon present and 
withdraw their local potentates like the passing figures of a magic 
lantern, leaving it to the imagination in many cases to determine 
whence they came or whither went, and enveloping in dim uncertainty 
the brief exhibition afforded of their respective careers. 

As members of this Society, therefore, no slight responsibility rests 
upon us. We owe it to the state — to the whole country — to search 
out *'the hidden things of old" — to rescue from the merciless tooth of 
time and the obliterating mould of neglect the forgotten annals of 
New Jersey. All may be assured, that the task, however attended it 
may be with toil and discouragement, is not without its pleasures, and 
biographical researches, particularly, will be found full of interest and 
usefulness. 

" A kingdom is a nest of families," and the constituent parts of the 
history of every community are the acts of the individuals who com» 
pose it. In that fact lies the value — the charm — of all private histo- 
ry : — not only the private history of public men, but also of those 
whom tlieir fellows may term humble individuals ; — for it is not al- 

3477-2.': i 



23 

ways in the power of cotemporaries to discern the bearing, or the 
historical value of many an event that occurs — of, so called, trifling 
circumstances — 

" But triflcji, lighter than straws, are levers in the building up of character" — 
developing traits and qualities which make their possessor known and 
felt in the community. The most prominent actors are not always 
the best judges of the merit which attaches to their own performance, 
and in the great drama of Life, as in the mimic representations of the 
stage, much may depend upon him who plays a humble part. Each 
has his duties, — each must share the responsibility. 

In one of the legislative halls at Washington is a Time-piece whose 
device ever struck me as impressing forcibly upon all their obligations 
to the age in which they live. In the car of Time, on the periphery 
of whose wheels the hours are marked, stands the Muse of History, 
recording in a book the events which transpire before her as the 
wheels of her chariot tell the revolving hours : — by her attitude and 
expression reminding the assembled representatives of the nation, that 
the history of each passing moment receives from them its impress, is 
stamped indelibly, by their proceedings, with characteristics which 
must redound to the welfare or the dishonor of the republic. 

We may all, in our respective spheres, heed the lesson. As citizens 
of the state — as portions of the several communities in which we re- 
side — as members of this Societ}^ let us ponder the responsibilities 
and duties which rest upon us, and in proportion to our faithfulness 
shall be our reward. 



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